Day One: Cleansing
Tomorrow will be the longest day of the year and the official start of summer. To celebrate the changing of seasons I am fasting for three days. I have written about this in previous posts, I have practised fasting for a while now (I think 6 or 7 years) as a form of meditation and a cleansing practise.
For this particular fast I am only drinking water and herbal teas today, tomorrow I will be juicing and on Thursday I will have smoothies to reintroduce food in my body and break my fast gradually. I usually do 3 days straight of water and herbal teas, but I decided to switch it up a bit for the solstice this year. I think this method is a nice way to cleanse, reset and nourish my system. It is also very hot right now in Seville and I need to keep myself nourished as well as hydrated. I think three days of just water would be tiring in this weather.
I feel very good right now despite the constant sweating from the heat. It's 43 degrees at the moment. I love heat, and I am used to this kind of temperatures from living here and in New York for 7 years, but this year is the first year when I really feel like I am suffocating. There is zero wind and the air is dry and dirty in the city. I feel it more this year because I spent May in Fuerteventura where it is hot but windy and the air clean, therefore coming back to Seville in full June heatwave mode has been a tough adjustment. The call of the sea gets louder and louder every year...
Day Two: Reset
It is not even noon yet and the solstice is already bringing big changes into my life. Last week I did a "spring-cleaning" in preparation for these three days. I cleaned out my wardrobe and I got rid of papers and things which were only taking up space and not much else. And this morning I cleared myself of a situation which was of complete disservice to my life and my progress as a teacher and as a person. It feels very good to be free of it. 2017 is all about getting clarity for me; Ridding myself of this situation is allowing me to move into that direction, to make space for experiences, people and connections which help me grow. What a beautiful way to start the day. Letting go inside and out and trust that it will be ok.
Today is the day of juicing therefore I prepared juices for the day this morning: Carrot, apple & ginger and Cucumber and celery. I also prepared a cold soup of celery, cucumber, courgette and coriander (I used the cucumber and celery pulp from the juicing) for tomorrow. I feel good physically and mentally.
In the same day of liberating myself from an unnecessary situation I had a breakdown; Not about the previously mentioned situation but about something much more personal which is slowly eating up at me and I cannot seem to find peace with it. That is why I love fasting: it sometimes brings a lot of my shit up to the surface. I haven't had an emotional breakdown like this in a very long time. My pranayama and meditation practice have helped me a lot to remain calm in testing situations. Nonetheless, when I see my mum being more and more crippled everyday by rheumatoid arthritis, I sometime find myself overwhelmed by a wave of emotions ranging from anger to fear and a million more in between. And today I felt myself drowning in them to the point of no return. I did return but not before giving in to despair. It will probably happen again, although I find comfort in the fact that every time it is less and less and for shorter periods of time.
Day Three: Nourish
Welcome, Summer! And welcome new day. The final day of my solstice fast, and I feel very good, although I still feel somewhat overwhelm below the surface. It is not as strong as yesterday, just a lingering feeling.
Today is all about nourishing my body and mind. I am reintroducing fibre through smoothies and cold soups to prepare my body to eat solid food again tomorrow. I made a smoothie of pineapple, cherries, figs, nectarine and apple with moringa, hemp, maca and chlorella powders to drink throughout the day and I will also drink the raw soup I made yesterday. My physical body feels good, I don't feel tired or low energy. On the contrary I feel invigorated and more clear-headed.